Chelsea star, John Mikel Obi
MTNFOOTBALL.COM
Super Eagles midfielder, John Mikel Obi, has said that Chelsea are fired up to finish in the top four in the English Premier League even though they are trailing both Tottenham and Newcastle who are presently fourth and fifth respectively on the log.
Chelsea will play in next season’s Champions League if they beat Bayern Munich on May 19 to win the competition or as one of the top four clubs in the English league that is just three matches to end the season.
Mikel insisted Tuesday that he knows that the London club are still determined to place in the top four bracket and so will give everything to beat close rivals Newcastle United in continuation of the EPL Wednesday.
Last season’s runners-up Chelsea are in sixth place on 61 points from 35 matches, a point behind fifth-placed Newcastle and Tottenham Hotspur.
‘The Blues’ could catapult to third position with a win at Stamford Bridge.
“Our target is still to finish within the top four,” Mikel told MTNFootball.com.
“To reach the final of the Champions League was great and we are looking forward to winning, it but we are not joking with the league either.
“The last two weeks or so have been tough and important to us and so far we have able to achieve some of our objectives.
“Personally, we have never finished out of top four since I came here (to Chelsea) and so we still wish to stay within that placing.”
He continued: “We are therefore taking the game against Newcastle very seriously. It is very crucial we win this game in our quest to finish top four.
“They are ahead of us now, so we really need to win to take us closer to the top four. We will remain focused in all our remaining games.”
WEDNESDAY FIXTURES
EPL
Chelsea V Newcastle
Bolton V Tottenham
LA LIGA
A’Madrid V Sociedad
Barcelona V Malaga
Zaragoza V Levante
Mallorca V Vallencano
Valencia V Osasuna
A’Bilbao V R’Madrid